The arrest warrant for a Waterbury girl who’s accused of locking her emaciated stepson in a room for almost 20 years reveals extra details about what the person instructed first responders who rescued him from the household’s burning dwelling in February.
The investigation began when police met with the sufferer whereas he was in ambulance, being handled for smoke inhalation, on the night time of Feb. 17.
They famous that he was “extremely emaciated,” weighing solely 68 kilos, and he was soiled and his enamel appeared to have rotted, the arrest warrant states.
The person was acutely aware and alert, however had problem talking due to smoke inhalation.
However he instructed the primary responders that he had been locked in the home for his whole life and deliberately set the fireplace, utilizing hand sanitizer, printer paper and a lighter he discovered within the pocket of his deceased father’s jacket as a result of he wished his freedom, based on the arrest warrant.
Police have arrested the person’s stepmother, 56-ywar-old Kimberly Sullivan. She denies the allegations.
Police haven’t revealed the sufferer’s title to guard his privateness.In keeping with the arrest warrant, he instructed them that the abuse began when he was 3 years previous and he had been held captive since he was 11 years previous behind a door that Sullivan saved locked.
When police requested Sullivan if her stepson was locked inside his room, she mentioned that his door just isn’t locked and that he has free reign of the home, based on the warrant.
A detective famous that firefighters had eliminated the door to the room the place the fireplace began and there was a slide lock on the surface of the doorframe and a latch on the door appeared to match up with the situation of the slide lock, the warrant states.
Days after the fireplace, police visited the sufferer twice at an undisclosed facility the place he’s being handled.
Over three hours of interviews, he instructed police about 20 years spent in captivity, abuse and hunger, based on the warrant.
His first reminiscence of being locked in his bed room was when he was round 3 years previous, he mentioned.
The household was dwelling at a special home and he described sneaking out of his room at night time to get meals and fluids as a result of he was hungry.
Then, when meals wrappings have been discovered, he was locked in his room at night time, he instructed investigators.
He additionally instructed them that he generally drank from a rest room as a result of he was solely getting about two cups of water per day.
Earlier than preschool, the household moved to a different home, he instructed police.
At first, he was in an precise bed room, however then he was moved to a smaller room – an 8-foot-by-9-foot space for storing with angled ceilings on the second flooring with no warmth or air-con – and that was the place he was saved from the time he was 12 years previous, the warrant states.
He instructed police that he was at all times hungry, and when he was in class he would ask others for meals, he’d steal meals or generally eat out of the rubbish, the arrest warrant states.
Then the state Division of Youngsters and Households visited the house twice due to what he was doing at college, however Sullivan instructed him to inform them that all the pieces was positive, based on the warrant.
After the second DCF go to, he was completely pulled from faculty whereas he was within the fourth grade, he mentioned.
For some time, he mentioned, he was given worksheets, however that stopped and nobody was educating him something, the warrant states.
As soon as he was pulled from faculty, he would sleep from round 7:30 p.m., relying on the season, and wake at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. and he’d be allowed out of the room round 8 a.m. for anyplace from quarter-hour to 2 hours to do chores and duties, the warrant states. Different instances, he mentioned, he was locked within the room all day.
On weekends, his father would let him out of his room for longer durations and they might watch TV collectively when Kimberly Sullivan took his sisters to occasions and to see buddies, the warrant states.
The final time he had left the property was when he was 14 or 15 years previous to go along with his father to dump yard waste, he mentioned.
When his father died in January 2024, the captivity and restraint acquired worse, the person instructed investigators, and he was solely allowed out of the home to let the canine out for a few minute a day.
For meals, he was given as much as two sandwiches a day, then that was lowered over time, and he obtained restricted meals and the equal of two small bottles of water a day, the warrant states.
He instructed police that his sisters weren’t allowed to have buddies over — he “was their secret,” the warrant states. When individuals did come over, he was instructed to not make a sound.
The sufferer described being in worry.
The warrant states that he instructed police that he was instructed that he would “not see the light of day” if he instructed anybody and recalled seeing a gun as soon as whereas he was cleansing.
He instructed investigators that he considered breaking a window, however Sullivan instructed him, “under pain of death no one was to see me,” and he or she instructed him she was going to begin unlocking his door, however she wanted to see if she may belief him, the warrant states.
He described an incident in 2005 when he was dwelling alone and lower a bit of wooden paneling out of the door that he was locked behind and he was capable of get out and eat meals that he discovered.
When Sullivan discovered, she slapped him within the face, then plywood was secured on the door so he couldn’t get out, the warrant states.
He instructed police he had not bathed in a yr or two and had solely small quantities of water and a few males’s cologne in his room, the warrant states.
The person additionally instructed police that his solely reference to the surface world was by means of radio after his TV grew to become too outdated to get a sign and he adopted UConn basketball and NASCAR, the warrant states.
Police mentioned through the years, he educated himself. Annually, he was given three or 4 books and used a dictionary to lookup phrases he didn’t know, the warrant states.
In some unspecified time in the future on the night time of Feb. 17, the sufferer instructed police, he determined to set the fireplace and he knew he needed to let it get to the purpose the place Sullivan couldn’t out it out.
As soon as the fireplace was going, he stomped and known as for assist, the warrant states. Sullivan opened the door and he collapsed on the high of the steps.
Sullivan then made him stand up and wash his face within the downstairs rest room as a result of she didn’t need the fireplace division to find out about his look, the warrant states.
He additionally instructed police that his sister and her boyfriend had arrived and Sullivan yelled to them to get a screwdriver to get the locks off the door, the warrant states.
The person mentioned he fell to the bottom once more and Sullivan yelled for him to stand up however he didn’t as a result of he believed the one approach out of the state of affairs was for the fireplace division to get him, the warrant states.
Medical doctors who’ve been treating the person described him as being close to hunger and his situation as life-threatening, based on the warrant.
Within the arrest warrant, a member of the family who went to the hospital to go to the sufferer after the fireplace instructed police, “I was shocked, he looks like a Holocaust survivor.”Kimberly Sullivan has been charged with cruelty to individuals, assault within the first diploma, illegal restraint within the first diploma and reckless endangerment within the first diploma.
Sullivan’s legal professional, Ioannis Kaloidis, mentioned his consumer is harmless and denies allegations.
“She completely maintains her innocence, from our perspective. These allegations are not true. They are outlandish. She was blown away when she heard these allegations,” Kaloidis mentioned. “We look forward to being able to vindicate her and show that she’s done nothing wrong.”
Kaloidis mentioned his consumer by no means locked her stepson in a room.
“That’s completely not true. He was not locked in a room. She didn’t restrain him in any approach. She supplied meals, she supplied shelter. She is blown away by these allegations. It’s surprising and what’s extra surprising to me? It is how someone can (be) falsely accused of such a factor,” Kaloidis mentioned.
Sullivan was launched on $300,000 bond.
She is due in courtroom on March 26.
